Mandrake
"I'm going to destroy the forest. But I'm only going to do it once, so try to pay attention." - Mandrake. Mandrake is the malevolent leader of the Boggans and is the main antagonist of Epic. He planned to destroy the forest, causing an ongoing battle for centuries between the Boggans and the Leafmen. He is also the father of Dagda and is voiced by Christoph Waltz. Biography Early Life At some point in the past, Mandrake became the leader of the Boggans, most likely by killing a bat single-handedly to prove his worth as the leader. He fell in love with a Boggan woman who became his wife and together they mated and had a son named Dagda. However, she might have died after the birth of their son, leaving Mandrake to raise him alone. Eventually, Mandrake grew tired of living in the darkness and planned the ultimate revenge to claim the forest that he strongly believed should have always belong to him. As the century-long war between the Boggans and the Leafmen, the protectors of the forest, begun. A bitter rivalry grew between Mandrake and Ronin, the leader of the Leafmen, which is believed to be after Mandrake murdered Ronin's best friend and Nod's father in cold blood. The Assassination Attempt on Queen Tara After being informed of the location of the Pod Ceremony in which Queen Tara, the queen of the forest, chooses an heir to her throne from his son who now idolizes him and is the General of the Boggans upon his coming of age. Mandrake and Dagda discuss their plans to kill Tara before she has the chance to choose an heir because the Leafmen do not possess the power to regrow the forest like she can, thus allowing the Boggans to easily destroy it. After Tara chooses the smallest pod as the heir, the Boggans attack, however, are mowed down by the Leafmen despite their superior numbers and the element of surprise. When Tara and Ronin are attempting to escape with the pod on the back of Ronin's hummingbird mount, Mandrake and Dagda take to the skies and attack them. However, Dagda is shot with his own arrow by Ronin and falls off his crow mount into the forest below. Mandrake, horrified and distraught, sees this and dives after his mortally wounded son, but not before shooting an arrow that strikes Tara, leading to her death. Epic Final Confrontation Devastated over the death of his son, Mandrake is now fuelled with even more anger towards the forest and the Leafmen and orders the Boggans to bring Bufo, a bullfrog and a businessman, to him. When Bufo makes an offensive comment regarding Dagda, Mandrake is infuriated and splits a rotting tree in half in his blind rage, frightening Bufo so much that he reveals that the pod is located at Moonhaven, which he overheard from Ronin and Nod. Mandrake using a mole mount arrives at Moonhaven and kidnaps the caretakers of the pod, Mub, a slug, and Grub, a snail, along with the pod and imprisons them at Wrathwood, the Boggans' territory, which is a wasteland of dead trees. He reveals that he plans to bloom the pod in darkness in order to destroy the forest and revive his son (which he learned from a magic scroll containing information about the pod that was guarded by Nim Galuu, a Glowworm and a showman, as well as the keeper of the magic scrolls that record the history of the forest). However, Ronin becomes aware of the abduction and quickly stages a rescue mission. While he distracts the Boggans, Mary Katherine (a.k.a. M.K.), a "stomper" who was shrunken down by the dying Tara to protect the pod and Nod rescue Mub and Grub and retrieve the pod. However, Mandrake discovers Ronin's presence and engages him, managing to temporarily trap him in a spider's web, but then catches the others trying to escape with the pod. He summons the Boggans to stop them and gives chase, but is stopped by Ronin who sacrifices himself to ensure their escape. Nonetheless, Mandrake relentlessly pursues them despite Nod's single-handed attempt to halt him. Although the pod reaches Moonhaven safely, Mandrake summons a horde of bats to block the moonlight, causing the pod to begin sprouting in darkness. After dispatching the Leafmen patrols, Mandrake almost has the pod in his reach while Mub and Nim Galuu try to stop him to no avail. However, Ronin then appears, critically injured from the Boggans to defend the pod, but Mandrake outdoes him. Mandrake prepares to kill Ronin who is at the last second defended by Nod and the Leafmen. Mandrake's victory then slips from his grasp when he is held back by the combined efforts of Ronin and Nod and M.K.'s eccentric scientist father, Professor Bomba, who has long studied the Leafmen, uses his iPod to make bat sounds, causing Mandrake's bats to follow him. The pod blooms in light and Mandrake is imprisoned in a tree along with his staff so it is hinted that his imprisonment will not be forever. Physical Description Unlike the rest of the Boggans, Mandrake possesses a close human-like build standing roughly about nine-to-ten-feet-tall, towering over a human. He has thick human-like black eyebrows above large human-like yellow eyes with a golden gaze as bright as the sun. He has a flat cat-like/human-like nose and a large human-like mouth with velociraptor-like teeth. He has a broad chest and only four digits on his hands and his feet. Although his hands are human-like, his feet are more reptile-like. He has what appear to be freckles around his eyes and a set of moles on the back of his arms. The color of his skin is blue-grey. He wears a bat skin pelt around his neck and his shoulders that possibly came from a bat that he killed single-handedly. He also wears a rotting leaf over his chest and a rotting moss loincloth around his waist. Despite his terrifying appearance, he is still sexy and beautiful in his own way, possessing an inner beauty and an irresistible voice. Personality and Traits Mandrake is snide, cunning and hell-bent on retribution against the forest as well as possessing a sadistically sense of humor. However, he is also passionate, loyal and fiercely protective of his loved ones. This is proven by his deep love for his son, Dagda. Although he is determined to destroy the forest at all costs, Mandrake cares much more about Dagda shown when he abandons his attempt to kill Queen Tara and retrieve the pod moments after Dagda is fatally wounded by Ronin. After his son's death, Mandrake becomes more bitter, aggressive and driven by his desire for revenge, but his determination changes to hoping that the destruction of the forest would revive his son. Though he is a caring father, Mandrake never shows his emotions except hate to anyone else, which makes others believe that he is nothing but pure evil. When in reality, he is actually a broken man consumed by much sorrow and grief and in desperate need of salvation, especially after he fails to save his son. He is feared by many and is loved by few. Powers and Abilities Mandrake is a powerful and fearsome Boggan warlord, possessing incredible agility and invincible strength despite his non-muscular build. He wields a magical staff that can bring destruction to any living thing that it touches and is fuelled by the wielder's rage, which Mandrake demonstrates by bringing down an entire tree while interrogating Bufo and turning Nod's bat mount into a skeleton with a simple wave of the staff while the latter was pursuing him. He is also a master of the bow and is an excellent rider, which is proven when he kills Tara during the Assassination Attempt on Queen Tara. However, Mandrake possibly did not know that he had murdered Tara as he was distracted trying to save his son who had been wounded during the battle with Tara and Ronin. Mandrake also has the ability to control the creatures of the dark including crows, bats and moles to do his bidding. Despite that he possesses human emotions and can speak human language, he is still a Boggan and especially when angered, can behave more like a ferocious beast. Relationships Dagda Mandrake shares a very close and highly affectionate relationship with his son, Dagda, and loves him a great deal. When Dagda is killed during the Assassination Attempt on Queen Tara by Ronin, Mandrake goes through a time of great emotional pain and distress, never to stop mourning the loss of his son. After his death, Mandrake continues with his plot to destroy the forest, but is now hoping that the vendetta will end with the replacement of his son by corrupting the pod containing the life of the forest into his own Dark Prince. Despite his son's passing, Mandrake still loves him and feels a great empty void in his life from then on. Ronin Mandrake shares a bitter rivalry of pure hate with Ronin which started when the century-long battle between the Boggans and the Leafmen first begun. Their rivalry only grows even more after Dagda and Tara are both killed by the other. In the Epic Final Confrontation, Mandrake tries to kill Ronin to avenge the death of his son, but is ultimately defeated by Nod and the Leafmen. Bufo Bufo acts as a source of information for Mandrake as well as a spy. After failing to retrieve the pod during the Assassination Attempt on Queen Tara, Mandrake orders the Boggans to bring Bufo to him. However, when Bufo dares to make an offensive comment about his recent deceased son, Mandrake is enraged and frightens Bufo so much that he reveals the location of the pod to him. Like most others, Bufo is greatly afraid of Mandrake. Mub and Grub Not much is known about this relationship only that there must have been some interaction in the past. Mub and Grub often see Mandrake as someone to be toyed with, but even they are careful not to go too far. He only captured them along with the pod as he needed them to care for it (as he has no knowledge at all of how to care for it) before it blooms. In the Epic Final Confrontation, Mub along with Nim Galuu makes a brave attempt to stop Mandrake from reaching the pod, but both are unsuccessful. Trivia *Mandrake is the name of a plant that belongs to the Nightshade family. Its also a plant from Harry Potter *Mandrake could approximately be in his mid-thirties or in his mid-forties, but it remains unknown. *Unlike the Boggans, Mandrake and Dagda are more advanced Boggans with more intelligence than the rest. *Mandrake, like all the Boggans, is based on the Dark Eldar of Warhammer 40,000. Mandrake is based on the Archon, who bears a hood similar to Mandrake's. *Mandrake's goals are the same with Hexxus from FernGully, both are evil creatures with their hatred of the beauty of the forest, tired of living in the shadows and determined to destroy it as their new kingdom. *There is a hint at a sequel since Mandrake is not killed at the end of the film, but it is unknown whether a sequel is being planned or even if Mandrake will return because sequels need to made by a lot of money. *He is similar to Scar from The Lion King, they are both malevolent leaders in which Scar has hyenas, while Mandrake has boggans. They both kill leaders in which Scar killed Mufasa while Mandrake killed Queen Tara. *He is also similar to Poggle the Lesser from Star Wars because they are both humanoid species and leaders in which Poggle is a geonosian and a archduke, while Mandrakes a boggan Gallery Mandrake-12.png Mandrake-1.png Mandrake and Dagda HD.png Mandrake's Revelation.png The Lethal Aerial Assassin.png Mandrake HD.png Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Boggans Category:Males Category:Deceased Characters